Leah laughed in anger when she heard those two labels.
Her mouth hung open, but no sound came out for a long time.
Eventually, she lowered her rosy little head, her heart filled with sorrow.
The winner takes all, while the loser is labeled a villain.
As a pathetic loser buried in history, she could only let this group of surviving traitors dress her up and weave everything about her into an exquisite tribute to flatter the victors.
While she was feeling down, John’s large hand reached over.
His unintentional caress calmed much of the anxiety in her heart.
The touch, infused with mana, felt so good that she couldn’t help but narrow her beautiful eyes, rubbing against him in a daze.
“I can understand ‘madman,’ but why call him a fool?”
John laughed in spite of himself.
“Even Lady Yuna praised Demon King Ria as a clever man. He built the Demon Race into what it is today; that should surely count as having great vision and strategy, shouldn’t it?”
Amiel’s eyes were full of admiration.
“Because he was stupid enough to challenge you, to challenge the great Human race. Isn’t that foolish?”
Ayla nodded repeatedly from the side.
“Although humans often use us to scare the commoners, any demon with eyes can see that we are no match for the Human race. When the news came that you, Brave Hero, were coming to crusade against us, most people wanted to surrender. But he ignored all opposing opinions and insisted on going to war with the humans. He even initiated a surprise attack…”
“Doing what you know is impossible is exactly what ‘courage’ is,” John murmured in a low voice.
The two succubi didn’t hear him clearly, but Leah did.
She suddenly felt a bit of pride and joy, uncontrollably puffing out her chest and straightening her slender waist.
Under John’s touch, she felt more and more at ease and rubbed against him even more happily.
Unfortunately, Amiel’s annoying voice once again ruined her good mood.
“That’s right, Brave Hero. If he had just bowed his head to you and the human army and knelt obediently for a while, he would still be the Demon King. The Demon Race wouldn’t have had to fight and die in a meaningless war, and our business wouldn’t have been affected.”
Amiel chattered on, her little mouth moving non-stop.
The more she complained, the more aggrieved she felt.
“He refused to do something beneficial and insisted on doing something useless, and in the end, he even dragged us down. Tell me, if that isn’t being a fool, what is?”
John moved his lips but didn’t respond.
Emotionally, he felt that Demon King Ria’s choice wasn’t wrong and even felt a bit of injustice for him.
However, as the Human Hero, he shouldn’t show too much sympathy for the Demon King.
After a long silence, John pondered those few major battles and couldn’t help but ask again.
“Did Demon King Ria ever say… if — and I mean if — he hadn’t been misled by false intelligence later, and his main force hadn’t been annihilated by me, and the battlefield had remained within the Empire’s borders… how would he have ended the war?”
“Hmm.”
Ayla lowered her head to think for a few seconds before looking up with a smile.
“That’s why people say he was crazy. He believed that the Human crusade against the Demon Realm was just a political show and a collective hunt for the nobles. Therefore, once the expected losses exceeded the gains, the Human nobles would be the ones anxious for a truce.”
“At that time, he would have proactively sent a signal to negotiate with the person in the Hero’s party who represented the interests of the nobles, winning another twenty years for the Demon Realm.”
” — Isn’t that just wishful thinking? How could we have lasted until then? Look, in just a few months, he was finished!!”
John fell silent.
If it had been half a month ago, he would have also laughed at Demon King Ria’s wishful thinking.
How could such a major event as a crusade against the Demon King end abruptly because it “wasn’t profitable”?
But after hearing City Lord Rossi’s words and experiencing many brief but profound sights over the past few days, he suddenly realized — Demon King Ria was right.
Once the nobles and warlords realized that the crusade had changed from “earning the Empire’s money” to “spending their own money,” they wouldn’t care at all about the demon threat or the conflict between good and evil.
They would be more desperate for a truce than anyone.
“What a pity,” John whispered lonely, unsure of whom he was mourning for.
Leah huddled in the Hero’s arms, her clear yet seductive pink eyes staring straight at the two of them.
Her eyes shimmered with one wicked idea after another.
She could be the savior of the demons.
And of course, she could also be their gravedigger.
Who said that Demon King Ria couldn’t truly “resurrect”?
The blurring of truth and lies is the mist that can most easily confuse people’s hearts.
If she fished in these troubled waters, who would ever imagine that the truly resurrected Demon King was actually her, this “Pseudo Demon King” imposter?
After learning about Demon King Ria’s pre-war decrees, John asked about the details of his life and instructed the cute little Poopoo in his arms to remember them clearly.
“Did Demon King Ria have a catchphrase?”
“Uh, I don’t think so, but he often said, ‘You bunch of idiots, are you trying to annoy me to death?'”
“…Did he have any favorite foods?”
“Hotpot. He especially loved blood tofu. It was all imported from your Empire and was quite expensive — 100 copper coins per 1 pound. He was very wasteful.”
“Did he have any habitual gestures?”
“Not really, but he was incredibly pretentious. Blood Demons are already pretentious enough, but all the Blood Demons combined weren’t as pretentious as him alone. The Demon King’s castle was built like a giant maze, and he loved wearing trench coats. They were hideous; his taste was abysmal.”
Creeeeak, creeeeak, creeeeak…
“Is something being ground?” John heard the sound of “rubbing rubber” getting louder and couldn’t help but look puzzled.
Ayla reminded him, “Brave Hero, the sound seems to be coming from your chest.”
John listened carefully, and it seemed she was right.
He poked Leah twice and said gently, “Lily, be good. Don’t take a bath at a time like this.”
‘I am grinding my damn teeth!’
Leah almost couldn’t catch her breath.
Listening to the succubi badmouth her was already torture enough.
Later, she would have to follow this set of stereotypes and cosplay as “herself.”
Dammit! It was simply hell!
—
Fortunately, after learning enough, John didn’t delay and immediately left the succubus shop with Leah.
Ayla and Amiel smiled as they saw them off at the door.
Only when the Hero’s silhouette completely disappeared did the two succubi heave a sigh of relief.
They chatted as they returned to the main house.
Gossiping about the Demon King.
Gossiping about the client.
As a mouth giant who loved to gossip about everything, how could she not take the chance to gossip about the Hero now that he was gone?
“Auntie, do you know what the Hero has been up to lately? He seems so busy. I went to find him several times, but he wasn’t there. He was so cold when we met today; he didn’t understand any of my hints. He’s totally dull,” Amiel complained resentfully.
“Oh, he seems to be busy with disaster relief,” Ayla replied casually.
“Disaster relief?!”
Amiel was shocked. She gestured with her small hands.
“Is it, is it… giving away massive amounts of gold coins for free to those disgusting and lowly commoners?”
“Yes.”
“Then he’s a fool too~” Amiel made a playful face and stuck out her pink tongue.
Then she complained, “Honestly, spending shiny Couronnes on strangers for nothing is such a waste. Why are these males all like they haven’t grown up? Whether it’s Demon King Ria or the Hero, they’re both in high positions yet remain so childish. They’re even worse than me~”
“That’s enough. Stop nagging about this every day. Talk about it less in the future too. The Hero is bound to fail with this disaster relief. Be careful he doesn’t take his anger out on you later,” Ayla responded absent-mindedly.
Compared to the deaths of refugees, which had nothing to do with her, she cared more about how to make her new script a hit.
Hmm…?
Ayla suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
If she used the Hero for promotion and spread rumors everywhere saying, “The Hero loves playing the new Flower of Desire script series and comes to the succubus shop every day,” wouldn’t that attract more people to experience it?
‘Good idea! Let’s do that!’
Ayla’s eyes lit up.
Beside her, Amiel stared at Ayla mischievously.
“Auntie, how do you know the Hero will definitely fail? Do you have some inside information?”
Ayla hesitated for a moment.
“I do…”
“Then why didn’t you tell John?”
“He didn’t buy the info.”
Ayla slumped her shoulders and spread her hands.
Although they were nominally working for the Hero now, John wasn’t cruel and tyrannical like Demon King Ria, who would fly into a rage at a moment’s notice.
He was a very gentle manager.
This made her more inclined to continue testing John’s bottom line and try to earn more money.
“So what is the inside information?”
Amiel asked curiously.
Ayla said casually, “Actually, it’s nothing much.
It’s just that the lord of Thousand Rivers, the Archmage of Shadows, Lady Jayra, wants as many refugees to die as possible. She has even sent out Raven Spirit Envoys to collect the resentful souls left behind by the dead. A powerful dragon cannot suppress a local snake, after all.”
“Doesn’t that mean… all the money the Hero spends on disaster relief will be for nothing?”
Amiel’s heart immediately ached.
“Pretty much.”
“No way, I have to follow him and get some of it back. I can’t let the Hero waste money like that!”
Amiel darted out without another word.
Ayla tried to grab her but missed, only able to watch the petite figure with flapping wings fly away.
She sighed helplessly.
The little succubus sniffed the scent of the strong male hormones left by the Hero and followed it all the way to a secluded forest.
Soon, John and another “person” appeared in her field of vision.
Amiel looked closely and felt as if she had been struck by lightning.
Her blood seemed to freeze instantly.
She trembled like a sieve, and her bladder actually failed her.
A slow stream trickled out.
She almost cried out in a seductive voice: “De… Demon King?”
But fortunately, she held it in.
The next scene was even more beyond her imagination.
She saw that “Demon King” suddenly “collapse” and split into several pieces.
The concealment magic and transformation effects faded at the same time.
Those limbs were not real limbs, but a large group of Poopoos!
At the same time, the Demon King’s head melted into a pink liquid, re-forming into the appearance of a little girl — it was that stinky Poopoo who always sprayed water on her.
In the distance, Leah asked John tentatively with a pure and innocent look, “Friend~ Friend~ How was Lily’s acting just now? Did I pass?”
John was silent for a long time.
Finally, he spoke with a complicated expression.
“…Tone it down a bit.”